Nest has a new proprietary IOT protocol with the same name as Google's open one

There's no denying the Internet of Things ecosystem is a complicated mess right now. Manufacturers are releasing one-off ideas with little regard to how those ideas communicate with the rest of the ecosystem, and often times less regard for how securely that communication happens. Google is one of several companies looking to simplify this messy ecosystem with an underlying communication layer called Weave, but their Alphabet sister company Nest beat them to it in the least helpful way possible.

Nest Weave is being announced today as an entirely separate product from Google Weave, and it focuses on building a proprietary low latency network in your home for any company that plays well with Nest to take advantage of.

In many ways Nest Weave is the natural progression of the Works With Nest program, a partnership arrangement built to encourage cooperation between smart home accessories. By using a combination of Wifi and the Google-backed Thread protocol, Nest can become the central hub for your home. Nest Cam, Thermostat, and Protect essentially become the guiding force for how lights behave when you're not home, when the dryer runs, and how the fans operate, all through the same learning systems the company has been developing all along. Perhaps the most important selling point, something Nest has gotten quite good at, this can all be done in the name of saving money and being generally more safe.

Developers will have access to the APIs needed to make Nest Weave work in early 2016, and already has an impressive list of partners who have agreed to support the new system as a part of their Works With Nest agreement. This means Nest can suggest which companies they think are the best to work with based on their ability to cooperate, and that's exactly what is happening with the Works With Nest store, which allows you to purchase those recommended products. While it's entirely possible this could wind up being a good thing, ecosystem lock in is only going to make IOT more confusing for users who aren't willing to play ball.